Please, Use The Life Jackets

It is the hope of every leader to see the citizenry live happily though disasters may, from time to time, occur; but the fact of the matter is that, as a nation prone to natural occurrences, be it flood or fire outbreak, adequate provision must be made to curb these phenomena.

We, will however, extol the sensitive tenacity of the President Mills-led National Democratic Congress (NDC) government, for its rapid approach to solving such natural incidences since taking over administration of this country, and we commend Mr. Kofi Kportufe and his National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO), for their immense contribution, in responding to the S.O.S calls, and coming to the aid of many disaster victims, who have been affected in one way or the other.

This does not mean that the other supporting agencies, like the Ghana Navy and the Ghana Police Service have not done any support, no! In fact; we sincerely appreciate their efforts and will humbly request that they give out their best as we strive to build a better Ghana.

To be honest, the commitment of the current regime to solving problems of the citizenry, especially, in times of disasters, is a tacit confirmation of the President’s “I care for you” message, and we thank God for giving us a man like Professor John Evans Atta Mills, as a leader of our dear nation.

Like Oliver Twist, however; we are calling on government to do its best so as to avoid these disturbing occurrences, particularly the lake disasters that have become rampant and have claimed the lives of many breadwinners.

Although it is incumbent on government to find a lasting solution to these natural frequency, it has also become imperative for us as a nation to collectively find lasting solutions to disasters of all kind most especially the lake disasters .

On this score, we deem it appropriate to commend Mr. Agyepong and his Zoil, for the wonderful role they are playing to make traveling on our lakes safer.

We sympathize with those who have lost their relatives and friends in the latest lake disaster at Tepa Abotoase; and very worrying also, on the part of those that use the lake as their means of transportation, has been their refusal to use the life jackets provided them; and that is unfortunate.

Days ago, we learnt the Zoil Services, a subsidiary of Zoomlion Ghana Limited, has donated Three Thousand (3,000) life jackets to the Boat Owners Association in Abotoase, for distribution to boat operators on the Volta Lake. We laud the gesture, but still have some doubts as to whether the rationale behind the move will be achieved.

Disturbing signals picked up by this papers seems to suggest that those traveling on the lake are their own enemies, as they refused to wear the life jackets provided them, and this situation is very worrying when one thinks of the number of lives that have been lost in recent times, as a result of such disasters on our lakes.

At this crucial moment, where disaster on the Volta Lake has become rampant as well as issue of national concern, we humbly want to suggest that a more strict approach be adopted; where boat operators will ensure that passengers on their boats put on the life jackets, since we cannot continue to put the nation’s scarce resources to waste, where these disasters can be prevented.

We might sound hash but the fact of the matter is that, the intransigent stands of passengers traveling on the lakes must be stopped; and on this note, we call on the Zoil Services, the Ghana Navy and other stakeholders tasked to make traveling on our lakes safe, not to allow these passengers to have their way since the use of life jackets is the only surest way of curbing the disturbing phenomenon